Rudolph Days - November 2024

My card today is almost 'white on white' - with some white sparkle card and also some silver sparkle card as well:

I used:

- 5.75" x 4" white card blank, tent fold

- die cut the aperture with row of houses etc. using a piece of white card, the same as the card blank - then embossed it . The NBUS die is an unbranded one from Amazon, bought ages ago, and not showing the best embossed detail in the photo - there's a snowman and a sleigh to the left hand side, you can see it much more clearly in real life, sigh

- die cut the outer border of the image rectangle to size, using a die from Heffy Doodles A6 set of 'stitched Rectangle' dies, sadly no longer in business

- cut a snippet of white glitter card to fit behind the image die cut panel and just held it there without attaching it so I could see what it would look like

- the next step was to trim away a rather odd looking 'lump' in the snow right in the centre of the image panel - it almost looked like a snow covered grit holder that our UK Councils provide to quieter roads so that you can 'do it yourself'

- filled the now gaping patch of snowy bank by die cutting a pair of Christmas trees using a Charlie & Paulchen little die from a sweet set of small Christmas dies - designed to work with their Christmas Market dies etc. and using very narrow red line tape to adhere them to the reverse of the image panel. In my mind I think the residents of the two houses pute those there just for the Christmas festivities ....they're still arguing about whether to have lights on them!

- at the same time, die cut the sentiment and some stars, using the original row of houses set and a snippet of silver sparkle card and glued them in place

- then carefully added the white glitter card behind the die cut image - using red line tape AND  a few slicks of glue stick 'just in case' - another Chrissie Stokes tip. As it happened the alignment was spot on, yay! 

- I felt that the border of the stitched edge needed just that 'something' between it and the card outside edge so I added a rectangle of the same white card to the card blank - just one eighth of an inch narrower all round, and that too is almost invisible in the photo! Come on sunshine - give me a break!

- finally, added the whole image panel to the front of the card using very narrow foam strips - done!! 

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

Rudolph Days for November 2024 - HERE

Darnell's NBUS Challenge #68 - HERE - the row of houses die was having its first outing 

I do often make a duplicate or even more of Christmas cards.  In this case I was SO glad it was only the one! Not the friendliest of cutting dies and I almost had to beat it into submission!!

Sunday Snippets - 'Three Kings'

My snippets card today uses a lovely stamp that I spotted over on Liz's blog HERE. I sat on my hands for about half an hour before ordering one for myself! It's such a distinct stamp that I had to take care not to make a direct copy of Liz's card:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" off-white hammered card blank, tent style

- patterned paper from the Whimsy Stamps Slimline paper pack called 'Champagne', I used the centre portion with the rays of light emanating upwards

- stamped the image using Lavinia's 'Wise Men' stamp and a VersaFine Clair 'Nocturne' ink pad

- trimmed the image, cutting just inside the stamped outline

- hunted for ages looking for a suitable die to make a stitched edge 'frame' for the image

- success eventually so I used a snippet of Tonic 'Inca Gold' mirror card and a die from the MFT 'Stitched Fishtail Flag STAX' set of dies which was perfect for the height of the piece I wanted but way too wide. I used the old trick of die cutting onto a wider piece of card, about half an inch wider than the final result would be using the straight stitched sides and then flipped the die around the opposite way. Jiggled the die into the top and bottom 'die cut stitches' by feel to the exact width I wanted and then die cut the remaining end so that all four sides had stitching. Much easier to show than explain and when you've done the trick just once, it's a great standby to have to really customise when you don't have the perfect sized die! 

- then glued the image onto the gold panel before attaching it to the card front using narrow self- adhesive foam strips .... and the glue stick trick of course!

- then die cut two sentiment strips from another snippet of 'Inca Gold' mirror card, using the Tonic Studios 'Peace Strip' double die set (actual sentiment only), layerd them using a glue pen then glued the sentiment strip in place across the card front

- me not daft, I'd made the card tent style so that I could cleanly snip off the excess length from either side of the sentiment strip, with a sharp pair of scissors

- finished, and yup, I did make two as the paper pack had two sheets of each design

Sorry, the snippets were all shiny gold, and the desk light just bounced back so I haven't used the photo I took. It's so dull here these days that taking photos isn't particularly easy.

Little tip, stamps with very solid parts, no matter how often I use a stamping platform to re-ink, can still have some teeny stubborn white spots. Also, re-ink and re-stamp too often and you risk  some of the fine detail becoming 'clumpy-looking'. The spots are tiny, but I know they're there and my solution is a Tombow double ended black brush pen.  Just a light touch with the brush end and they disappear!

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #68 HERE - the Lavinia 'Three Kings' stamp is NBUS

 - Allsorts Week #808 HERE under the 'Anything Goes' theme

 - and, Christmas Kickstart HERE where the theme is  'Wise Men Three'

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley is like a walking bundle of fluff at the moment - he's due to have a trim. I'm hoping there isn't a little round foottball lurking underneath all the hair! Len has let him off for now as it's turned very cold over the past few days. Dudley's life with his new Honka is going really well and he's making a nice double groove along Honka's back to get decent 'purchase' when he's carrying him around the house.  I always smile when he appears with Honka held sideways in his mouth and just two bright happy eyes looking at you over the top. 

Remember, I've just kicked off a new challenge over in the Snippets Playground HERE.   

Hope to see you on the swings - wrap up warm, it's cold, wet and windy outside. I'm donating a Chiminea  for you to gather round whilst consuming some of Sarn's latest offering of hot goodies!

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Sunday Snippets - 'Decoupage Pooch'

I made this card for a local friend who has a French Bulldog - a cutie called Teddy. I couldn't find a Frenchie so had to settle for a pug. Close enough IMHO, at least I tried! 

An idea of the many layers!

I used: 

- 5" x 5" square white card blank, side opening

- a decoupage sheet by Hunkydory which was ready cut. I just trimmed off the little 'pips' holding the images to the sheet and layered then up using snipped up thin sticky pads. Including the base layer image it's eight layers high in places - so I made a box for it as well!

- then I took a piece of blue tartan paper from a Craft Consortium's Essential Papers 'Tartan' pad and trimmed it down so that the decoupage image had a background, but not too big to be overwhelmed

- my snippet is a slightly larger piece of Tonic satin effect 'Scarlet Organza' satin mirror card - pulled out from the packet which sits in a much used card stack slot  alongside where I work on my desk

- glued the blue tartan card onto the red mirror card, then glued them both onto the card front 

- then glued the dear little decoupage pooch image onto the tartan panel - all done using Collall All Purpose glue

- final touch, added the little circular 'Santa's Little Helper' sentiment from the decoupage sheet onto the bottom right corner of the image panel, using a thick Hunkydory sticky pad, and called it done! 

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #68 HERE as the decoupage sheet is NBUS - it also has a different pooch on it for another friend - me not totally daft!

And, I'd like to enter it into the current Allsorts Challenge #807 HERE, under the 'Anything Goes' option. 

Dudley Pupdate: Earlier this week, Dudley was sick again - twice. And it clicked that once again Honka  was the cause, same as last time we went through it due to being a well licked, chomped on and loved favourite companion. The new Honka had been around for four or so weeks and had an occasional bit of attention but not enough to fully take over. However, Len, immediately and unseen, hid old Honka in the shed until Dudley moved onto the new one and we braced ourselves for the fallout. 

There were some heartbreaking moments when an arrival at the door, usually a delivery, sent Dudley running, literally crying and looking frantically from room to room for old Honka. However, the breakthrough actually came on Wednesday of this week just gone when I was going out. As I headed for the front door Dudley went ballistic AND grabbed the new Honka, loved him to pieces (don't ask, just imagine) AND began to seriously cuddle him. From that moment on he's absolutely been in love with new Honka! We keep saying we should do it sooner, but how soon is soon? 

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #492 are now published HERE. 

Do please come and play in Sarn's current challenge over in the Snippets Playground, it's getting colder here so no doubt hot chocolate will be available. Just scroll down from my results post - over in the Playground.

Love from myself and Dudley, xxx

Lest we Forget

Sunday Snippets - Spellbinders 'JOY'

My snippets card this time uses a Spellbinders set of dies called 'Joy' (S4-1012) that has been patiently waiting for at least a year to have a first outing. I kept looking at it and putting it back as I knew it would be a challenge and a half:

I used:

- 5.75" x 4" white card blank, side opening

- die cut the main JOY part first to get a handle on what size background area would work. I used a snippets of Tonic pearlescent 'Majestic Gold' card

- then die cut a Tonic satin mirror 'Black Velvet' rectangle using a die from the Heffy Doodle set of A6 stitched rectangle dies - shame they closed shop as their stuff is/was lovely

- then used a snippet of the same 'Majestic Gold' card to back the black panel and glued them together

- next came the really fiddly part! I die cut all the additional bits from snippets found in the back of an ancient paper pad by Hot Off The Press called 'ForeverChristmas Cards' so that I could closely echo the image on the die set itself and also keep everything nicely toned together. As the snippet were paper, I backed them using some 'Stick It' double sided sheet and a 200gsm piece of white card

- used my baby Altenew die cutting machine to die cut the red poinsettias, green holly leaves, gold centres for the poinsettias and the striped (using paper from the same pack, yay!) inserts for the word JOY

- used a glue pen to add the poinsettias, gold centres and holly leaves onto the main die cut then glued it onto the panel front using two glue pens in different sizes for ease and speed (I did it that way as I would have splodged onto the black background if the image was already in place! I know myself too well)

- at that point I added the striped JOY pieces to the gold die cut. I later realised that I could have die cut the letters into the main gold part then inset the striped letters - but they look fine as they are, IMHO

- added the completed panel to the card front, using thin sticky strips 

- finally, dug out the last of my stash of Mai Flowers small adhesive pearls and added some teeny ones to the tips of some of the firtree bits

- went and had a lie down in a darkened room with a wet flannel over my face

I made two cards the same and have enough snippets in the pad to make a third one. However, this is one of those die sets that I might only ever use the once. I don't know what it is about Spellbinder dies but I've found the same with others in their more intricate sets. Sometimes, no matter HOW hard you faff around, the little pieces you pop on (the poinsettias are particularly bad) just won't line up onto the main die cut. Turning them round and round just made me dizzy until my head hurt. How hard can it be to actually do some precision design and production work? I found the same with their beautiful Christmas Reindeer set a few weeks ago. Sizzix dies can be very complicated, but I always feel that the alignment is really precise so it's worth the pain. Grrrr. Hops down from soap box, sorry to be a 'Moaning Minnie'!

I'd like to enter this card into:

Darnell's NBUS Challenge#68 - the Spellbinders 'JOY' set of dies was having a first outing, at long last!

Also Allsorts Challenge 806 - where the theme is 'Christmas'

I'm so happy that Allsorts will be a fortnightly challenge from December 20th. It's one of my favourite challenges and this gives me more time to make an entry to fit their chosen theme - although one can still enter under 'Anything goes'

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley continues to find and settle into some of the smallest spaces around the house. We now refer to the shower room off our bedroom as 'Dudley's Office' without thinking twice about it. I'll start charging him rent if I find him setting up a desk and laptop in there - small business or not - pun sort of intended! During the early hours of Thursday morning Len was woken up by someone beside the bed on his hind legs with his paws on the bed, ready to tap him awake. Seeing the anxious little face, he knew something was afoot and they both shot downstairs into the garden, where Dudley was promptly sick. Bless his little heart for asking to go out!! Bad me, I slept soundly though it all! He was absolutely fine when it was 'get up, it's a new day' time so we have no idea what that was about. 

We have a new Challenge #493 being run by our lovely Sarn over HERE! Do please come and play - no doubt there will still be some gooodies left over from the Halloween 'trick or treating' haul in the tree house! When I saw Sarn trundling a wheel barrow full of Halloween treats I did wonder however we'd ever get though them all. So far, they're going down just fine and dandy!

Love from myself and Dudley, 

Sunday Snippets - 'Merry Merry' Christmas cards

My snippets card(s) today use some Penny Black Stickeroos that I'd already popped onto some gold pearlescent snippets. In the end I trimmed the gold off altogether, leaving just the images - and I made four cards in total, two of each design/image:

I used:

- white card blank, trimmed to 5.5" x 4.25", side opening

- a piece of green backing paper, which is covered in little pine tree branches, from the Honey Bee 'Make It Merry' paper pad - trimmed to just an eighth of an inch smaller all round than the card itself

- glued the background paper to the caerd front using Collall glue

- then die cut the corner sentiment using a NBUS die (found on eBay recently) called 'Merry Merry' from the Corner Concepts range by Die-Versions - I think the whole range is now discontinued, sigh. The card I used came from a whole bundle of snippets, tucked into a Tonic packet of pearlescent card called 'Red Velvet' 

- glued the sentiment onto the top left corner of the Penny Black Stickeroo image (both designs came from the 'Woodland Splendor' sheets - somehow I had two sheets!

 

- final step was to add the whole panel to the card front, using narrow strips of thin foam tape - finished!

NB The cards and images are exactly rectangular - I just wasn't positioned centrally to take the photos so they appear to taper off a bit at the right hand end!

I'd like to enter the first card, with the birdie on, into the following challenges:

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #68 - HERE -  the 'Merry Merry' die was having a first outing

- Allsorts Challenge #805- HERE -  the theme is 'Magic of the Season' ie. Christmas 

Dudley Pupdate: We had quite a change of direction  on Halloween this year! Although we had everything ready - we actually left our hallway in darkness and just lurked! Len was remotely operating all the lights etc. IF anyone did decide to call. However,  not one single person came to the door. It might seem a lot of trouble for nothing but it actually achieved the aim, which was to see if people would bypass houses that weren't decorated, something that is always publicised around here as being the polite thing to do. In recent years the kids have been getting older (and greedier) and we decided to see if we call time on what was becoming much less fun than it used to be. So, little Dudley was fed earlier than usual that evening, much to his delight. His world seems to revolve around food and cuddles - oddly enough, he really has to be coaxed out for walkies. Other dogs I've known used to go scatty just at the sight of their lead!

Remember, the results from Challenge #491 are now published in the Snippets Playground HERE. 

Do come and play with us in the Snippets Playground - the Tree House is loaded with leftover Halloween goodies! Some of the spooky eyeballs have popping candy in - not tried one of those yet!

Love as always, Dudley and yours truly,

Sunday Snippets - 'Clarity Treescape'

Did you remember to change your clocks overnight - over here it's one hour back - ie 'Fall - back'. Easy way to remember it!

The October Rudolph Days challenge is well under way and my snippets card this week is a Christmas one so that I can play along:

I used:

- white square 5.75" x 5.75" card blank, side opening, tent style

- a snippet of satin effect silver matt mirror card - die cut with a NBUS die by Clarity called 'Treescape Aperture'

- then cut the frame around the die cut trees using a Heffy Doodle die from their 'Stitched Squares' set of dies - sadly now discontinued as they closed down

- added a square snippet of deep purple-ish blue matt mirror card to the back of the trees die cut panel, covering both the top and bottom parts of the scene, using a glue pen 

- next, die cut the snow bank part of the 'Treescape' from an A4 sheet of very pretty sparkly white card stock that arrived here a day or two ago - thank you again to a lovely friend!

- glued the relevant pieces of the snowy bank into the apertures 

- die cut a sentiment using the Tonic Studios 'Peace Strip' double die set (actual sentiment only) and snippets of the deep blue card, twice. Glued them one on top of the other and then snipped the 'tails' to suit and glued it in place at the bottom right of the card

- added an IO little die cut 'cardinal' for a pop of extra colour - and also to hide a slight blip in the die cutting!

- finally, used thin sticky strips to raise the Treescape panel for dimension and stuck it in place - all done! 

Sorry, the snippets disappeared into the bin before I thought to take a photo! 

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #67 HERE - the Clarity 'Treescape' die is NBUS

Allsorts Week #804 HERE under the 'Anything Goes' theme

And, after all that, I almost forgot - October's Rudolph Days Challenge - HERE!

Dudley Pupdate: This coming week is Halloween of course and we're all prepared. Dudley has his little spooky neckerchief chosen in readiness. One thing I'm worried about is that he's become quite reactive to outside noises - people smile when they see who's been doing the 'welcome barking', but, if it becomes too much then I can see us cutting things short, once the little ones have done the rounds. Which will leave us with a whole load of candy, which neither of us really eat. Maybe I'll just make up cello bags of treats and lob them from an upstairs window ....... or leave them with Sarn in the Playground stash of goodies!

Remember, I've just kicked off a new challenge over in the Snippets Playground HERE.  

Hope to see you on the swings - weather and Halloween trick or treat callers permitting!

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Sunday Snippets - Penny Black 'JOY'

Bit of an odd week, Len's Birthday was on Tuesday - we had a quiet day, but to celebrate, the dishwasher decided to give up the ghost and ping its buttons across the kitchen! Finally - after almost two years of Len and his Heath Robinson fixes, it was beyond redemption - hooray!

For those of you in the UK, we use AO Appliances online store and true to form they arrived on time on Thursday, disconnected the old and connected and tested the new machine. Then tootled off, taking the old one for recycling and all the packaging. So quick and easy - I like it when things actually go to plan as it's a rare thing here and always has been. 

  

I used: 

- 5.5" x 4.25" cream linen blank - tent style

- a teensie bit smaller snippet of Tonic pearlised 'Majestic Gold' card  to form a narrow 'frame' for the hammered cream layer

- 5.25" x 4" snippet of  cream hammered card

- glued the hammered card onto the gold 'frame' and set it and the card blank to one side

- using Tonic snippets of satin mirror card 'Scarlet Organza' I then die cut two of the word 'JOY', using a NBUS Penny Black die called 'immense joy'

- glued both layers of the die cut 'JOY' together for dimension

- die cut the 'O' from a card mounted Penny Black Stickeroo from the 'Berry Delight' sheet - this was quite tricky with little room to play but I managed, with hiccups along the way! 

- added the word 'JOY' and the centre of the 'O' to the cream hammered card panel using a glue pen

- adhered the finished panel to the card front, using narrow foam strips for a bit of 'lift' - and it still can be posted at UK's Standard rate - finished!

I can see fun times ahead using this very big die - it's just right for using Penny Black's 'Masterpieces' ready printed images - and the world is your prawn oyster for going to town with die cut foliage etc. And, not forgetting the many delightful PB Christmas stamps lurking here.

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #67 HERE as the Penny Black 'JOY' die was having a first outing.

And, I's like to enter it into the current Allsorts Challenge #803, under the 'Anything Goes' rule. The theme for this week is 'Patterned papers' and as I have a ton of those, despite having culled a lot - I might even try to play a second time! Perhaps, maybe. Why don't you have a go though?

Dudley Pupdate: As happens over time, Dudley has 'loved' his Honka Duck to the point that before long the stuffing will appear so we've duly placed the brand new replacement next to the old Honka whenever possible over the last couple of days - and will do so until the day comes when the swop will be made. Much like the Stinky Monkey toys in his puppy days, it has to be done for Dudley's health and safety. However, the traumatic first few days are tough until he stops searching the house and accepts that 'old' Honka has gone to the big duck pond in the sky ........... so he might as well knuckle down with his replacement. Sigh. 😟

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #490 are now published HERE. 

Do please come and play in Sarn's current challenge over in the Snippets Playground! Just scroll down from my results post - over in the Playground.

Love from myself and Dudley, xxx

Sunday Snippets - 'You are unique'

My snippets card this time was triggered by the arrival of a surprise package from a lovely friend. Amongst the delicious hand crafted goodies, templates and ideas she had included the offcuts from some Gelli plate pulling she used when making up the package contents. It called out to me, so I made this to share with you:

I used:

- 4.75" x 3.5" silkweave pale ivory linen card blank, side opening - odd size due to being left over from making A2 cards from the same card pack. Therefore a snippet!

- the gelli pull paper snippet wasn't huge but so very lovely and I knew fairly quickly exactly what to do with it - first of all I mounted it onto a snippet of white card using double sided sticky sheet 

- worked out the positioning and size of the main stamp and trimmed the gelli snippet to the size I wanted, then backed it with a slightly larger black frame using a snippet of Tonic 'Black Velvet' Satin effect mirror card - used Collall glue for that step. Sort of working backwards at this point - with the trimming to fit the card size

- then stamped the image, using a stamp from the AALL & Create 'Long-Eared Mammal' set of stamps and a VersaFine Clair 'Nocturne' ink pad

- then picked out a 'You are unique' sentiment strip from the Clarity 'Words Sticker Collection' and popped it into position on the lower left- hand side of the little panel (cheating but quick!)

- finally, added the completed panel to the card front, using thin sticky strips - and called it 'done'!

I loved making this card, wanting to do the background piece of paper worked by a friend some proper justice. Quietly rewarding I think.

I'd like to enter this card into:

Darnell's NBUS Challenge#67 - the AALL & Create 'Long-Eared Mammal' set of stamps was having a first outing

Also Allsorts #802 - under the anything goes option

Dudley Pupdate: During this previous week, Len and I went together to have our Covid and flu vaccinations. A saga ............... of which I'll spare you all the details - be grateful! However, whilst waiting for me outside the Chemist's shop with Len, a defensive Dudley barked at anyone who walked past the door where he last saw his Mum - naughty boy! Then, not content with that - up came the rear end and he did a full squat to leave his little trademark 💩. WHAT? He already did that earlier on home territory - did he keep it in reserve? Thank goodness for always having emergency poop bags on hand! Smiling here - I think that Len returned home rather traumatised and ready for a lie down in a darkened room! I think we've moved from StroppyTeenager to Antagonistic Adult overnight!

Very importantly, we have a new Challenge #491 being run by our lovely Sarn over HERE! Do please come and play - no doubt there will be goodies for cooler days to be had in the tree house!

Love from myself and Dudley, 

Sunday Snippets - 'Thanks a bunch'

My snippets card uses a leftover panel from when I was playing with the fabulous Vincent Van Gogh washi tapes the other week:

I used:

- white card blank, trimmed to 5.5" x 4.25", side opening

- a 'frame' of Tonic mrror card in  'Inca Gold' - trimmed to 5.25" x 4" 

- a piece of the same white cardstock measuring 5" x 3.75" - onto which I glued the strip of card with already made up washi strips (3 of them). I trimmed it flat across the top, glued it in place and then trimmed off the overhang using Fiskars sharp dressmaking scissors (kept pirely for paper I should stress)

- then did the little sentiment strip - using a NBUS set of stamps and dies by Apple Blossom - called appropriately enough 'Vertical Sentiments and Stamps Set'

- first I stamped the selected sentiment onto a snippet of leftover white card, using a Misti and VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink

- then die cut the sentiment using a matching die from the same set by Apply Blossom. It's always best to make a 'jig' to do this by die cutting the aperture into scrap card, place that over the sentiment, image or whatever then 'nestle' the die in place so that it cuts perfectly lined up to where you want it - low tack sticky tape is always best to use to make sure things are held well in place during the process

- die cut the gold backing panel from a little snippet of 'Inca Gold' mirror card then glued the actual sentiment onto the gold panel before gluing it to the card front, left hand side

- final step was to add the whole panel to the card front, using narrow strips of thin foam tape - finished!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #67 - HERE - the Apple Blossom set of vertical stamps and dies were being used for the first time

- Allsorts Challenge #801- HERE - under the 'Anything goes' option. 

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley has got it into his head that one treat at a time simply isn't enough and so he comes back asking for a second one before the first one has had time to even hit his tummy. It's tough but for his own good - Len will give in at times, I just don't look at the little scamp's pleading little face. Yesterday it was time for his monthly application of flea prevention, always a battle as it means a really thorough grooming session beforehand - not just the lighter ones in between times. Dudley looks on it as his total responsibility to give me a good workout as soon as he sees the dreaded grooming trolley! I'm typing this whilst watching him out of the corner of my eye - immediately after the workout/grooming session and  he's lying on the floor looking super smart, telling Honka all about what a bad Mum I am. Not sure which one of us is more worn out ..... and, I didn't even give him an extra treat!

Remember, the results from Challenge #487 are now published in the Snippets Playground HERE. 

Do come and play with us in the Snippets Playground - I think, given the recent drop in temperatures over here, there could well be hot chocolate and even toasted muffins on offer! I think that Brenda might even turn up with a load of conkers - I'll bring the string! Sarn is super efficient and I'm counting on her to arrange the practice sessions and if nobody has resorted to biting and scratching, let alone hair pulling - perhaps we'll think about a proper knockout competition!

Love as always, Dudley and yours truly,

Rudolph Days Challenge - September 2024

I truly thought this entry would never happen - breaking a really long run of joining in with the Rudolph Days Challenge. However, here's my card, last minute, for September's Rudolph days challenge:

I used:

- 5.75" x 5.75" square white card blank, side opening

- a piece of the same white card stock. trimmed to 4.75" x 4.75" and set aside whilst I did the patterned layer

- for the patterned layer I used a very pretty pink piece of snowflake paper from Whimsy's 'Blurry Flurries' paper pack, die cut using a 4.5" x 4.5" die from the NBUS Penny Black 'snowflake stitch frames' set of dies

- then added the pink patterned layer to the white piece, before gluing the panel to the card front

- for the sentiment 'NOEL' word I used dies from the Creative Expressions 'Stacked Noel Layering Die' set - cutting three layers in solid white, solid black and then detailed white - and glued them together in that order (the set also comes with a backing 'shadow' die but I didn't feel it needed that)

- glued the sentiment onto the pink paper layer 

- added a double cut and layered white snowflake, using the same set of dies, on top of the letter 'O'

- final touch - a single little diamante gem in the centre of the snowflake just to add a tiny touch of sparkle - finished! 

It was a first outing for the 'NOEL' die set so I'm linking into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #66 HERE!

Phew, that was touch and go, I need a lie down! And, being a bit loopy, I did make two cards exactly the same! I might hunt out bigger diamantes and check if a slightly larger size would be better in the middle of the snowflake.

Sunday Snippets - 'hello'

A few weeks ago I fell in love with a die set, showcased by Donna HERE. After searching online, and even thinking of (tedious) ways to make a similar card without a die, I did resort to an unbranded die set in the end (one is offer right now over in the Snippets Playground!) and here we go:

I used:

- white 5.75" x 4.25" card blank, tent style

- a snippet of Tonic satin effect matt mirror card in 'Black Velvet' - die cut with an unbranded 'Hexagon Cover Plate' die from Amazon (I can send you the direct link - just email me) 

- glued the black die cut to the card front - bear in mind I made two at once - following our Val's advice when she recently made her two beauties HERE 

- then I chose a couple of sheets of patterned paper from the 'Dovecraft 'Back to Basics - Monochrome' paper pack' - I do so LOVE that paper pack!

- die cut the patterned sheets of monochrome  paper and glued the infill pieces to each of the two cards - flipping between the two

- used the fall out black centres in the empty middle space on each card - glue pen again

- then die cut a snippet of Tonic pearlised 'Red Velvet' card, twice per card

using double layered Heffy Doodle 'Hello Shadow' die cuts (bought in their closing down sale, sigh) 

- die cut the 'shadows' using the same die set and a vellum snippet

- glued the sentiment layers together, glued them to the vellum and then onto the black hexagon in the centre of the card

- finished!

I'd like to enter my card(s), as they are a pair, into the following challenges:

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #66 HERE - the hexagon die set is NBUS 

- Allsorts Week #800 HERE - the theme this week is 'anything goes' Congratulations the Brenda and her team - 800 challenges - wow!

Dudley Pupdate: Oh boy, has it been WET here. One stubborn little pooch has at times had to be physically dumped into the back garden for 'ahem'. He survives and once dried off with a good towelling - and yup, he always has a fight with the towel to show it that he IS the boss - things calm down. Until the next session. It's exhausting!!

It was 'worming pill' day on Friday - do you know how far a Havanese can spit a pill he doesn't want to take? It's pretty impressive!

Remember, I've just kicked off a new challenge over in the Snippets Playground HERE.  

Hope to see you on the swings - weather permitting.

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Sunday Snippets - 'Smile'

Apparently it takes less muscles and also causes less wrinkles if you smile rather than frown! That's today's 'useless piece of information' folks!

It's been a weird week -  and time just seemed to run away - so my snippets card was made late, in next to no time  ..... once I'd found the snippets:

The leftover snippets of the black velvet and the patterned card rectangles were literally just slivers - close call!

I used: 

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank - right edge opening

- 5.25" x 4" snippet of 'black velvet' card stock - I save every teeny little scrap in the packet and it's never far from my reach!

- 5" x 3.75" snippet of DCWV 'Quince Blossom' card stock, saved in the back of the pad and just enough to make the patterned panel - very tactile as the white flowers are raised and almost cry out to be stroked. It's a beautiful 12" x 12" paper pad that I really should use more! I think I won it a lot of years ago from Allsorts Challenge if memory serves me correctly

- glued the two layers onto the card blank

- next was the sentiment as I let the papers do most of the work

- I used a two layer Poppy Stamps die called 'Freestyle Smile' - bought in a clearance sale a little while ago

- used a snippet of the black velvet card and a snippet of vellum, from a little oblong dish in my filing tray beside me to die cut the sentiment and shadow backing

- glued the pieces together using a glue pen

- adhered the finished sentiment panel to the card front, using Stix 2 micro dots - which worked like a dream!

- and that was it - finished!

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #66 HERE as the Poppy Stamps 'Smile' pair of dies was having a first outing.

And, into the current Allsorts Challenge #799, under the 'Anything Goes' rule.

Dudley Pupdate: Autumn is knocking at the door - but Summer isn't yet over and we've had some very warm days. Lately, whether for coolness or to just hide away for peace and quiet, Dudley has taken to having several snoozes, day or night, in the shower room. We've had a few scary moments if I slip out of bed for a quick 'visit'! We often refer to Dudley as the silent ghost and it sure spooks you out to see a sleepy little white dog sliding past you in the middle of the night! No doubt, he will find another favourite spot before too long . I hope, it's most unnerving to say the least - he doesn't even stop to say 'Hello'!!

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #486 are now published HERE. 

Do please come and play in Sarn's current challenge over in the Snippets Playground! Just scroll down from my results post - over in the Playground.

Love from myself and Dudley, xxx

Sunday Snippets - 'for you'

I wanted to make a few 'for you' cards to enclose with Playground prizes - this is one of them:

I used:

- 4.75" x 4.75" square pale ivory linen card blank, side opening

- the plain reverse of a whole sheet of paper from a K & Company pad of  'photo matting' papers (the papers are 4.75" x 6.75" for quick photo mounting) - probably the very first paper pad I ever bought many, many years ago - trimmed to 4.5" square 

- a whole sheet of patterned paper from the same paper pad, die cut to just over 4" square, using a die from a set of dies by The Works (now discontinued)

- I then glued the plain 'frame' and the patterned paper square onto the card front

- the reverse plain side of the paper left from die cutting the front toned well with the patterned paper so I die cut the sentiment words using a die called 'for you' by Alex Syberia and then used the 'shadow part of the die to cut the background for the words from snippets of vellum

- glued the parts together then glued the assembled sentiment panel onto the card front - finished!

I made three cards in the same design using different papers - and that was the end of the paper pad, after all this time!

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge#66 - the Alex Syberia 'for you' sentiment die was having a first outing

Dudley Pupdate: Thursday was a fun day for Dudley as it was my Birthday and he absolutely loves to be involved in the opening of cards and presents. Each card was closely inspected then given his 'nose dab' of approval!

Earlier in the week he was certainly NOT so overjoyed as it was time for a grooming session and the application of 'nasties' repellent down his back. He ran and hid but Len hunted him out and the little monkey was insistent on bringing Honka Duck to the grooming table! No way was he letting go of his best pal:

It was nigh on impossible not to practically cry with laughter - he really is such a little pickle!

Very importantly, we have a new Challenge #489 being run by our lovely Sarn over HERE! Do please come and play - no doubt there will be cake in the tree house!

Love from myself and Dudley, xxx